Links 28 Sept, Apple's iOS 7 Causing Motion Sickness And Even Vomiting In Users - Forbes

This motion sickness and even the rare cases of vomitus are not coming from the Android system developers though, as they try to work out how to deal with the competition from the new OS. Rather, Apple’s iOS 7 seems to be causing these symptoms in some users of the software. Unfortunately, it also seems to be true that this is known to be an effect of certain methods of animation (fake zooms, parallax etc) on a certain subsection of the population. And there’s not really much that can be done about people who do so suffer.



Now that’s what you’d call a rotten Apple!


The latest software powering Apple’s popular iPhones and iPads overhauls the look and feel of the interface, and features a variety of new digital animations and effects. But many users claim the new effects are more nauseating than nice.



For this small group the problems are indeed serious:



Users complained about dizziness and vertigo-like symptoms “I just used my phone for about 20 minutes and now I feel like I’m going to vomit,” one wrote. Another chimed in, “I had to go home ‘sick’ from work because of the intense nausea due to using my iphone with iOS 7.”



One of the problems is that a user might not know that they are susceptible to this problem until they upgrade to Apple’s iOS7. But once you have upgraded there’s no road back to iOS6:



Some users have even complained they wanted to downgrade back to iOS 6, despite the large list of new features added in iOS 7.


‘I have the same problem. It hurts my eyes and makes me dizzy,’ Ldejeant posted to the forum. ‘So annoying that we can’t downgrade!!!! Really unhappy with Apple on this one :-(‘



There’s always been some element of this in iOS (and Android as well) as some people are simply sensitive to such animations and motions. But it’s become more intense in iOS7:



A Los Angeles Times report notes that although the zoom animation is present in past versions of iOS, it is more intense in iOS 7. One reason for that is because, unlike before, it is now present when users open their app folders.



It’s possible to reduce the problem but not to eliminate it entirely:



Users, unfortunately, cannot go back to iOS 6. The only real “solution” is to go to Settings>General>Accessibility, then find “Reduce Motion” and turn it on.


However, this doesn’t completely fix the problem. It takes care of the parallax effect, but doesn’t get rid of the quick zooming.



One of the best discussions of the problem is in The Guardian (hey, once you skip all the politics and economics it’s not a bad newspaper) here:



Reactions to screen-based systems — especially those utilising 3D effects — aren’t new. Cynthia Ryan, executive director of the Vestibular Disorders Association, says 3D effects can cause “intense nausea, dizziness and vertigo”, sometimes from general vision problems, but also from visual-vestibular conflict. She added symptoms “manifest more severely if a viewer already has a disorder of the vestibular system”.


The vestibular system is what gives us our sense of balance and sense of spatial awareness; it’s dependent on three mutually orthogonal fluid-filled canals in the inner ear. But when the vestibular system and visual system come into conflict, the effect can be distressing.


John Golding, professor of applied psychology at the University of Westminster, says visually-induced motion-sickness often arises from “the induction of perceived self-motion while at the same time the vestibular system and somatosensory systems signal that the body is in fact static”.



And if you want to see the origins of these complaints they’re here at the Apple forums.



The zoom animations everywhere on the new iOS 7 are literally making me nauseous and giving me a headache. It’s exactly how I used to get car sick if I tried to read in the car.


How do I turn them off? Do I have to revert to 6?



Sadly, it’s not actually possible to do that. Other than going and getting an old phone that has never had iOS 7 installed on it.


While the Apple haters are gonna hate it’s worth noting that this happens to some extent with all and any forms of moving graphics or animations. The difference between iOS 7 and either earlier Apple OSs or other systems like Android is simply one of degree. Some of the design choices made in iOS 7 increase the sensitivity of some people (and do note that it’s only some people) to the effects.






via apple - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNG1aaFH88jLf3ZG4Vz5TYmrlrLvLQ&url=http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2013/09/28/links-28-sept-apples-ios-7-causing-motion-sickness-and-even-vomiting-in-users/

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